Trump says Le Pen conviction is ‘big deal,’ similar to his cases

By Hadriana Lowenkron

US President Donald Trump offered support for far-right French leader Marine Le Pen after she was convicted of embezzlement and likened her legal woes to the prosecutions he faced before retaking power.

“That’s a very big deal,” Trump said Monday in the Oval Office in response to a reporter’s question.

“A lot of people thought she wasn’t going to be convicted of anything,” he added. “I don’t know if it means conviction, but she was banned for running for five years, and she’s the leading candidate. That sounds like this country.”

Trump’s comments follow Le Pen’s conviction by a French court, which barred her from running in the next election in 2027. While her lawyer has said she will appeal the ruling, the decision complicates her ambitions of taking over from President Emmanuel Macron.

Le Pen, who was a top contender for the next presidential election according to recent polls, has said the prosecution was politically motivated. Judges found Le Pen and her National Rally party guilty of diverting millions of euros in European Union funds to finance activities related to their domestic agenda.

Trump’s comments inject new tensions into already tense relationships between the US and some European allies, who have watched warily as the Republican president’s return to power has emboldened conservative far-right parties on the continent and as the White House prepares to ramp up its tariffs on trading partners.

Trump has been cheered and courted by many of Europe’s nationalist leaders such as Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Hungary’s Viktor Orban and others on the continent critical of the European Union and mass immigration. Messages of support poured in for Le Pen shortly after her conviction, with Orban among the first to weigh in.

The president’s own allies have injected themselves into European politics, most notably billionaire adviser Elon Musk who offered support for the Alternative for Germany party that campaigned for an exit from the European Union and euro, ahead of that country’s elections. Musk has also disparaged outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

US Vice President J D Vance has also assailed European allies, including during a February address at the Munich Security Conference where he accused them of falling short on democratic values, not doing enough on collective security and of stifling conservative voices on the continent.

Vance last week visited Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark, which Trump has said the US must possess for national security reasons. Vance used the visit to deliver a sharp rebuke to Denmark, saying they had failed to invest in security and economic development on the Arctic island.

Trump has accused NATO allies of not doing contributing enough to collective security and he’s derided the EU, saying the bloc was created “to screw” the United States and that its trading policies are unfairly weighted against the US. Trump aims to correct that Wednesday when he is set to unveil sweeping reciprocal tariffs on other nations.